Should Nintendo Really Look to New Hardware?

Let's not lie to ourselves here, the Wii U is pretty much drowning and things don't appear to be picking up pace. IGN's Keza Macdonald recently spoke to BBC News, talking about the Wii U's dismal sales and how the next six months are going to be crucial for Nintendo. Macdonald believes that if things don't look up, then Nintendo should look to new hardware, instead of "flogging a dead horse".

No that would be immensely costly and time consuming which could also damage their reputation. What I think they should do is lower the price to such a point that people don't mind (i.e. not a financial burden) picking it up as their second console. The Wii U has the issue with third parties which is going to/and is putting people off. Dropping the price will do what the Wii ended up like. Being that console you get along with the PS3 or 360 and not instead of it.

The Wii U could easily be that console; which is a highly profitable position to be in and Nintendo can get back to doing what they want to do (making their first party games) without worrying about trying to entice the third parties (who are reluctant to develop for it anyway)

I think that isn't enough though. They still need to convince those on the fence/those not considering it to buy it (which seems to be a lot of people judging by sales) and Nintendo first party can't change that opinion on its own. Now a price drop would as it isn't such a big ask to pay for the console that doesn't get a huge selection of third party games. They then could bring in what you said.

Kidding aside, Nintendo would burn its most loyal followers (current Wii U owners - you have to be to have bought it with no AAA games out yet) if they released new hardware now or within the next 3-4 years.

I do think Wii U will definitely have the tradition 5 year console life span.

Just produce the Wii U in low amounts and let those who want one get one. If the demand increases then so can the manufacturing. Sell the thing at a profit so as to at least make some money back, similarly to how they handled the N64 and GCN.

If five years time they can think about having new hardware on the scene and hopefully they will reevaluate how to handle its launch.

It would be suicide, but I'd wait another year before making such suggestions. This is about the time in the 3DS' lifespan it started turning around, and we've got a good number of promising titles on the horizon. It could be history repeating itself. We'll see.

As much as i want them to re-release the Wii U with more powerful specs,it wouldn't be wise (besides Nintendo doesn't think specs are important :( .

They have to work with what they've got. What they can do is release a Wii U model with more storage, at least 200GB. Also they can market the Wii U better. the biggest problem i see with the marketing of the Wii u is that they are only showing that one person can have the gamepad experience at a time. We know that the Wii U can support up to 2 gamepads so Nintendo could advertise games using 2 gamepads, they would have to work hard to iron out the kinks of using 2 gamepads but it would really help..

"Let's not lie to ourselves here, the Wii U is pretty much drowning and things don't appear to be picking up pace."

Right off the bat, OP is lying to himself. Pikmin, a niche game, got stellar reviews and sold near as many copies in Japan on the first 2 days as TLoU did in the Japan within a week. Wii U console units were also pushed to near the top of sales charts have only fallen down slowly, but haven't tanked. Now the west is next.

If anyone really believes thing won't, at the very least, get a moderately better during the holiday season and a lot better when smash and kart come out, then the internet negativity surrounding the Wii U really messed you up hard. Come back to reality when you're ready.

"The Wii U is completely under-powered compared to the likes of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, this is perhaps it's biggest drawback."

OP also doesn't know what underpowered means. Underpowered insinuates that the Wii U is too weak to receive any ports, like the Wii. The fact of the matter is, it is actually not and every developer has stated otherwise (also the laws of diminishing returns). Their reason for not porting the games is more bent on the fact that it's not currently profitable to develop for the console.

So many incorrect assumptions were made here that it's not even worth discussing (not even sure how I found myself here). Like I know OP was trying to be objective, but there were much better things to attribute to the problems of the Wii U.

@Acesonnall Well said... I've been saying the same thing but some people can't handle the truth smh...even if the wii u doesn't sell all that great this holidays ...Nintendo has aces in the hole with mario kart wii u,smash bros and the new Zelda them 3 games right there are gonna sell 10s of millions of games and systems ..let not forget mario kart wii sold 34 million copies alone yes 34 million games ...if Nintendo sells half what the wii sold that's at least 17 million wii u's sold ..that is a fact not an opinion ...but watch how many disagrees I get with this truth shrugs lol

Did any of these reporters not see E3? There are games coming. Gamers are being patient and the media is trying to kill it in the mean time. They need to report something else. Yes the Wii U is doing bad in sales right now. But it will get better. Now tell us something we don't know. They don't need new hardware use your common sense.

The wii u is going to do fine sorry sony and microsoft trolls, look at the virtual boy, THAT THING BOMBED!! and nintendo never made another portable again, did they? DUH! DUH! DUH! YEAH! again let the little troll babies doom and gloom all they want, with titles like mario 3d, 2 zelda games, donkey kong, mario kart, smash bros. pikmin3, wonderful 101, monolith's X, Sonic Lost worlds, Bayonetta 2, yeah the wii u will be fine and they can make another new system in the future, they can do it,but they are not giving up on the wii u!! look at the 3ds. if the same thing was happening to the ps4 and x box one, you trolls would say give the machine time!! bunch of TWO FACED HYPOCRITES!! sorry trolls, Nintendo themselves said they are NOT LEAVING THE HARDWARE BUSINESS!! that is NOT UP TO YOU!! sorry cry and whine all you want.. what ever helps you sleep better an night.. GET A LIFE, GROW UP AND GET OVER IT!!!YOU don't like nintendo? then don't buy nintendo, WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN SYSTEMS, OKAY TO ALL YOU SPARKIES OUT THERE?? WOW!! how pathetic can you be!!!

It was Shokio who won....... just kidding! All their debate was about the upcoming future of the Wii U. As far as anything goes we don't know how the Wii U will turn out to be. We will only see it after next year.

Right now, everything's too early to tell. Wait till next year after the PS4/Xbox One come out. Then we will probably get the results next year. All the articles about Wii U's doom and PS4 winning are all speculation given the information we have now. Real world performance is all that counts.

Hell NO! What kind of crap is this. I cant wait for the big guns to come out and just shut people up. Im not some troll either. I actually play my ps3 more than any other system right now because I am going through my backlog enjoying some games I have been meaning to play. But I enjoy my Wii U quite a bit as well. My kids and I play a lot of Sonic Racing, Mario U, and a lot of the VC stuff, plus the Wii games that we already own. There are still quite a few Wii games id like to play through as well and they have all looked great through the Wii U HDMI on my 240hz TV! Im happy with the system, but I am really looking forward to some new games, obviously.

I will be really surprised if the ps4 and Xbone arent having the same software drought issues that have plagued virtually EVERY system ever released. Its not like the market just magically grows to where publishers and devs want it right off the bat. And mark my words here: The PS4 and Xbox One WILL NOT reach mass-market penetration until there is a solid lineup of titles available in the $20-$40 range. Average consumers are NOT going to spend $400-500 for a game system then buy a bunch of $60 games and accessories to go with it. The hardcore will yes, and that will give these systems a good start. But mass-market will take years as the quality and number of titles grows. The systems take time to grow and build the library of software, which in turn builds the consumer base.

Once the newer games are out, there will also be a bunch of cheap games that can be had, which will lead to more console sales. Beleive it or not, there are people who have only had their 360 or ps3 for a year or so and will not upgrade for another 2-3 years. By then the U will be priced right and there will be a solid lineup of inexpensive games. This is a significant sales driver. We need to just chill and let the marketplace grow for the system before we shun the damn thing. What the hell are people thinking?

You can get some good U games on the cheap right now, so it was a pretty good time to get one at that price! You can build a solid lineup for around $100. I got Zombi U, Most Wanted U, Mario U, Earthbound, Metroid, Mega Man X, Mutant Mudds and Super Mario World all for under $100. dig around online and you can find some good deals.